I’d been here before, several years ago, to view the Carrieres et Lumieres in the man made caves, and to see the old town and the ruined chateau (la Citadelle des Baux de Provence) nearby. The sound and light show in 2015 was of Bosch, Bruegel and Arcimboldo and featured music by Led Zeppelin, amongst others! This time the subject was Van Gogh and being a public holiday the queues were long so we didn’t stop – except for pedestrians and cyclists on the roads – nor did we stop at the old town. Giving it a fleeting glance we pressed on.

Pierre was enjoying the driving, along twisting narrow roads and with close encounters with roadside vegetation and oncoming cars. Madeleine was in the back seat, quiet! They had been this way a few days prior, planning to attend the street parties in the region, but the parties were on the weekend, not the public holiday, so today we took the backroads to show me the countryside.

First stop was at Maussanne-les-Alpilles, where Pierre had lived as a child, we wandered around, saw where he lived, where he learned to swim, (and possibly where he learned to drink!). Beers in hand we chatted while a band set up nearby, and tourists thronged. This town features a kind of ‘running of the bulls’ and that was due to take place a couple of days after we had been there, it’s a major event for such a small town, and they have been doing it for many years.

On the way out we stopped where an aquaduct crossed the road, some of the water is diverted to a nearby stream by the simple means of allowing it to fall from the overhead structure like a curtain of water. Great photo opp!

During a brief stop at St Rémy-de-Provence Pierre told me that he and his father had run an agence immobilière (real estate agency) in the town for a number of years. It has certainly changed since then, the street was full, and the pavement restaurants were very busy.

The area is also home to the ancient Roman site of Glanum, and I’ll go there at another time …

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